Seek exposure to a broad set of EU stocks August 4, 2010 AFTER a tumultuous and testing first six months of 2010 for Europe, a calmer and less chaotic second half appears to lie ahead. This is, perhaps, unsurprising – after all we have just endured a sovereign debt crisis and a stagnation of growth, which sent stock markets sharply southwards. The more optimistic outlook – it [...]
Bearish sentiment boosts short ETFs August 4, 2010 THE global economy is at a crossroads. Fears about a slowdown in China, persistently high unemployment in the US and ongoing concerns about sovereign debt problems in Europe all threaten to weigh on financial markets in the coming weeks. But the Vix index, the traditional fear gauge for financial markets, has steadily ticked down in [...]
The european bank sector marches toward the rubicon August 4, 2010 HEAD OF INVESTMENT RESEARCH, MINT EQUITIES IT HAS been a good couple of weeks for the European banking sector. Firstly, the stress test results for banks across Europe were good; secondly, profits for the second quarter have been impressive. As you can see in the chart below, the European banking sector has pushed on strongly [...]
THE TIPSTER August 4, 2010 BIt’s a busy day for central bankers. The Bank of England (BoE) and European Central Bank (ECB) both announce the outcome of their latest rate-setting meetings. Market participants expect a “no change” decision. But the market will get excited by the ECB’s statement this afternoon. This should tell us how happy the Bank is with [...]
MARKET NEWS August 4, 2010 SOCGEN OFFERS NINE NEW WARRANTS This week saw the launch of nine new covered warrants from Societe Generale. Four are cocoa call warrants; the rest are divided between two dollar-Swiss franc put warrants that expire in December and three copper put warrants. Meanwhile, RBS Markets has launched two new products: one is the UK Accelerated [...]
Individual banks buck dreary session as volumes stay thin August 4, 2010 LONDON equities ended flat yesterday as better-than-expected US services and private sector employment figures offset weaker retail shares that fell on concerns of a decline in consumer demand. The choppy session witnessed weaker banks, with the STOXX Europe 600 banking index down 0.4 per cent. Standard Chartered fell 5.2 per cent despite forecast-beating earnings, as [...]
Retail earnings give hope to Wall Street August 4, 2010 US stocks rose in thin trade yesterday as retailers’ earnings and a report showing a slight improvement in private employment boosted optimism ahead of Friday’s payrolls report. Priceline.com soared 22 per cent to $281.30 on its stronger-than-expected quarterly results and outlook, suggesting consumers are opening their wallets to spend on travel. Traders also noted many [...]
When relocation becomes a nightmare August 4, 2010 ON the first day of my new job my new employer has told me that they want me to move to Birmingham. This was never mentioned in the interviews and I assumed I would be staying in London. I don’t want to move. I am single, and I feel that if I had a family [...]
Head gear for the holidays August 4, 2010 DENON AH-C560R £99.99 www.denon.co.uk It would take some particularly good in-ear buds to make me pick them instead of over-head headphones – normally I find them uncomfortable, I fret about what damage they’re doing to my hearing, and they fall out. But Denon’s new AH-C560R phones (catchy name, guys) have come as close as any [...]
NICK BOOTHTECH TALK August 4, 2010 I’VE seen the future of British youth – it’s half man, half desk. Why? They can’t relate to anything unless it’s writ large on a glowing screen at chair level. But now the school PCs and whiteboards have been powered off, could we entice our next generation humans into the garden of real-life high definition? [...]
